Over 12 years ago, the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) developed a member-driven program, Healthcare Staffing Services, to address workforce solutions. Healthcare Staffing Services administers supplemental staffing programs for the following state hospital associations: SC, FL, GA, NC, OK, TN, VA, WV and now AR. This unique cooperative program serves as the best way to improve quality/consistency of temporary personnel available to AHA members, provide greater efficiencies with managing the recruiting process and reduce costs on an ongoing basis.

Meeting the growing patient care demands in the current workforce shortage can be a very expensive endeavor. Staffing to full capacity is costly and rigid when census falls. Staffing at less optimal levels can drive up overtime costs and cause burnout in the best nurses and allied health professionals. Utilizing supplemental staffing can provide flexibility and actually save costs. Longer-term assignments typically provide more consistency and quality in care delivery than per-diem. Dealing with agencies can be challenging and overwhelming.

Serving as a third-party administrator between the healthcare facilities and healthcare staffing firms, Healthcare Staffing Services selects only healthcare staffing firms that have been scrutinized and meet the highest standards of performance including Joint Commission certification. Individual on-site audits are also conducted with approved firms to ensure credential compliance and quality consistency.

This free program is open to all AHA members offering user friendly web-based software for posting and confirming orders, scheduling, housing credentials, timecards and invoicing all at no cost to participating hospitals. Every participant is able to tailor the program to meet its specific needs and receive free training and support on an ongoing basis. Members benefit from the increased candidate pool of quality traveling RNS, CRNAs, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapists, Lab personnel, Radiology and other professionals, one cohesive contract for all pre-screened staffing firms and decreased administrative burdens.

According to a recent report released by Healthcare Staffing Services, the use of supplemental contact staffing necessary to fill gaps in coverage is growing. As a result, the 219 participating hospitals in the program are projected to have the highest number of contact supplemental staffing (as measure in total hours) utilization since 2008.

In recent years, many healthcare facilities have had to lay off employees and were hesitant to hire full-time staff due to unsure economic times. As our economy begins to improve, the once vacant positions that require extremely high-skilled candidates have become more difficult to fill. This increased demand has led to a trend of hiring for increased census periods, new job openings, EMR and ICD-10 conversions, and to assist in training of new graduates.

Registered Nurses make up the largest percentage of hours booked through the program; particularly in the specialty 2 category that includes ED, OR and ICU areas. However, the dependency on allied (OR tech, Lab, Radiology and Rehab) healthcare professionals is also continuing to rise. Healthcare Staffing is able to monitor these trends through data obtained within the program.

A participation agreement is all you will ever need to execute to get access to over 60 agencies. If you would like to participate or have any questions regarding this free member benefit, please visit www.heatlhcare-staffingservices.org or you may contact me or Sherry Kolb at SKolb@scha.org, 803-774-3515.